Left rules out post-poll support to Cong-led government

"There is no question of our supporting a Congress-led government at the Centre," Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat told PTI when asked to comment about the indications that the Prime Minister was holding out an olive branch for them.

The Left parties "have problems with the Prime Minister and his government on policy issues", Communist Party of India leader D Raja said.

He said, "The Prime Minister is speaking different things in different places on different occasions. Just a couple of days ago, he was in Kerala where he accused the Left of always being on the wrong side of history. Now, he says a different thing."

Reacting sharply to Singh's remark that the Left had often been on the wrong side of history, Karat said the Prime Minister's judgment may have been "clouded" as he was on the "right side" of the United States.

Referring to the Indo-US agreement on partnership for democracy, Karat said, "Being on the 'right side' that is of the US, seems to have clouded his judgement and led to the anti-communist tirade."

Raja said Left parties had withdrawn support to the United Progressive Alliance government due to "major differences of macro-level economic issues and finally over the Indo-US nuclear deal."

Raja charged the UPA government with not fulfilling the promises made in the Common Minimum Programme to mitigate the problems of the common people, the peasants and the workers. "That is why we are now trying to forge an alternative non-Congress, non-BJP(Bharatiya Janata Party) government at the Centre," the CPI leader added.